


Winter's Child

by Featherbelle



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, Bucky Barnes Feels, Explicit Language, F/M, HYDRA are assholes, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Torture, Parent Bucky Barnes, Protective Avengers, Protective Bucky Barnes, Protective Steve Rogers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-02
Updated: 2017-07-02
Packaged: 2018-11-22 08:07:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,646
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11376084
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Featherbelle/pseuds/Featherbelle
Summary: Bucky's daughter has been rescued from a kidnapping engineered by HYDRA. Upon being reunited with her family, she tells a horrific tale.





	Winter's Child

**Author's Note:**

> This story began as a cathartic exercise for me. I hope I got the tags right. If I missed anything please let me know and I will fix it.

I sat in the chair, numb, as anxiety crawled along my nerves, making me feel sick. The woman seated across from me was talking but I could hardly hear what she said…the only words standing out being the ones that pointed out what I was losing. No. What was being taken…no, stolen from me, yet again. Because this was wrong. I knew it. And more importantly _he_ knew it. _Damn you to hell, you sonoabitch. You promised me everything would be fine. That she'd be safe._

"Do you understand everything we've explained, Mrs. Anderson?" the social worker asked. I nodded because I understood only too well. _Katrina Anderson wasn't even my name. The man seated next to me was not my husband. They're the ones who don't understand. David Anderson was my partner in a long term deep cover operation run by SHIELD. My daughter came with me as part of the whole charade, after I was promised by Nick Fury himself that we'd be safe, because I had categorically refused to be separated from her for the length of time we'd likely need to complete the mission. David was a veteran SHIELD agent, at least that's what I was told. But I had begun to wonder if he had other ties, less savory ones. I am still not sure how David figured out I suspected him, as we were under very strict instructions regarding communications. But this bullshit of my daughter being taken was just that…someone was trying to distract me from doing my job. And when I found out who was behind this, they were going to pay dearly._

The door opened behind me, making me flinch. "I'm sorry," a female voice stammered. "I tried to stop him…"

An arm stretched across my field of vision, just past my head. An arm encased in expensive gray fabric. The hand at the end of the arm was extended in greeting to the social worker, who looked at the hand, and its owner as if he were a bug she wanted to squash underneath her boot. The arm retracted and I followed its movement with a swift glance downward to find the hand brushing against the leg clad in identical gray cloth, as if the owner were sickened at almost having touched something disgusting. _'Bout fuckin' time you got here_ , I snapped at him mentally, glancing up at his outwardly serene face.

 _Easy, Red_ , he replied. _I'll fix this, I swear._

_Damn right you will. Oh and tell Fury for me he is a dead man. For real this time._

His hand settled onto my shoulder and the social worker addressed him. "Mr. Stark, why are you here?"

He dropped a fat envelope onto the table. "Oh, good, you know who I am. Then we can get right to business. You're going to want to read that," Tony gestured with a hand at the envelope. "It's from my legal team. You see, you have illegally obtained access to Mrs. Anderson's child, and essentially kidnapped her. Those papers, in a nutshell, order you to return Mrs. Anderson's child to her, pretty much immediately. If you do not…" he smiled, and while Tony Stark was a handsome man, that smile did nothing to enhance his looks. That smile made him look scary…as hell. "Well, let's just say hell will be a lot more comfortable than this place will be."

"Boss?" a feminine voice sounded in the room. It was FRIDAY. "The rest of the team have arrived as you requested."

The door behind us opened again and in walked Black Widow and Hawkeye. They were wearing their uniforms, not casual clothes, and Hawkeye even had his bow and arrows on his back. Oh shit…they meant business. I glanced at them and nodded. _Clint…Nat…thank God you're here._ A corner of Clint's mouth quirked in acknowledgement. Natasha, however, was slightly more direct. "My ne te, kotoryye vy deystvitel'no khotite."

I was so shocked I automatically replied in kind. "Kakiye?"

She paused, one hand going to her ear, and she listened closely to what was being said in her earpiece. Nodding at me and smiling, she opened the door. "Sem snaruzhi. U vas yest' chto-to dlya vas. Idi seychas."

Clint grabbed my arm and hauled me up from the chair, shoving me in the direction of the open door. When David rose to his feet in protest, Clint spun around, his bow in his hand and an arrow nocked and ready to fly with the slightest twitch of a finger. An easy smile creased my face for the first time in what felt like years. "Chert, ty v poryadke."

Natasha took my arm and practically hauled me out of the room, closing the door behind us. "Trust me, Clint and Tony have got this. You have more important things to worry about." We walked down the hall to the building's reception area and waiting room. The door to the outside opened, and a small blur hurled itself towards me. I barely caught my daughter before she knocked me flat.

Looking towards the door, and the two men who towered just inside it, I smiled, tears in my eyes. "Thanks, Sam," I said aloud. I could not use my voice with his companion, however, so I settled for telepathy as my throat had closed up with emotion. _Thank you, Stevie_ , I whispered into my best friend's head and he smiled back. _Anything for you, Jess. Always._

"There's a Stark Industries quinjet outside, ready and waiting. Let's go," Sam said, and the three of them escorted my daughter and I onboard. Once we were settled, my daughter began to pull on my arm and I crouched down to her level, Natasha copying me, Steve moving closer to us, his looming presence an incredible comfort. "Mommy," my daughter said, her voice shaky, "don't be scared but Mr. Sam said David isn't my daddy." I glanced up at Sam as the four of us laughed. "I know that, Steph. That's not scary. Not at all."

She looked down at her feet guiltily. "That's not all, Mommy." Stephanie reached a hand up and laid it gently against my face. My eyes widened in shock as a series of images transferred from my daughter's mind to my own. Images from my darkest nightmares, now come horrifyingly to life. "The lady that took me from the house…gave me to bad people. They talked about a man who I think is my daddy. Can we please try to find him?" she asked, looking in turn at the four of us. "It's not safe for him. We have to protect him from the bad people."

I had to work very hard to get my breathing under conscious control. "Baby, why do we need to find this man? And why do you think he's your father?"

"The things they said…they just talked in front of me like I wasn't there. They treated me like a stupid little kid." The frown on her face morphed into a grin that, on an adult woman, could have been called sadistic. "And I let them."

" Khoroshaya devochka," I praised her warmly, grinning at Natasha.  "Now…go on."

Stephanie told me the men who had held her captive spoke of this man as if he were a threat, and told my daughter that they were going to train her to kill him. "Did…does this man have a name, honey?" I stammered. "What…what did they call him?" I could barely get the words out, and Steve moved to crouch behind us, laying one large hand on my shoulder in support.

"That's the weird thing, Mommy," she replied, her nose scrunching adorably. _Just like her father's._ "They didn't have a name for him, not like your name is Jessamine and mine is Stephanie. It seemed more like titles?"

"Okay…but what were they? We need to know everything we can if we're going to find him and save him…whoever he is."

"Oh, I know who he is. They showed me pictures of him, Mommy," she told me, placing her hand on my face once more. As the pictures she saw flashed in my mind, I heard her say quite clearly, "They called him The Soldier. The Asset."

A strangled cry left my throat and I felt an unbridled rage begin to consume me. I let go of my daughter and rose to my feet, backing away from her slowly. Tony's face appeared on a monitor above our heads. "Something you want to share with the class, Wilson?" he snapped angrily.

Tears of pain and anger flowed down my face as I stretched out a hand, a ball of flame materializing in my palm. "Whoa there, Human Torch, slow down," Tony called to me in a soothing voice.

"No," I replied calmly. "They have to pay, Tony. Do you have any idea what those bastards were going to do to my daughter?"

Tony cracked a smile. "Yeah, I think I do. Legolas and I worked Davey boy over real good. He's singing like a bird."

"Jess…" Steve called to me. "What did Steph tell you? What's going on?"

Tears still falling, I looked at my best friend. "Stevie…where is he?" I asked, my voice starting to break. Steve didn't need to ask who I meant. He knew.

"He was a few minutes behind Sam and me. He should be here any second."

"Find him. _Get him_. I need him… _please_ , Steve," I begged, my knees buckling just as the ramp lowered to admit someone else. My daughter screamed, " _Mommy_!" as I began to fall, but I didn’t even have a chance to hit the deck. Strong arms caught me and lifted me, tucking me into a broad chest. I turned my head and my gaze collided with very familiar beautiful blue eyes.

"Falling for me, doll?" he quipped with a grin. I rolled my eyes. "I did that over eighty years ago, Sarge."  He passed me to Steve, who held me just as tight, just as close. "Here, hold this," Bucky smirked as he wiped my tears away with his large hand.

"HEY!" a small voice behind us shouted. "My Mommy's not an 'it'," my daughter snapped, stomping her foot for emphasis.

Steve choked on a laugh as he looked at Bucky, Bucky bit his lip and looked at me and I just glared back at him. "Don't look at me. That's your temper, not mine."

Stephanie walked over and stood next to Steve. "Mommy, are you okay?" she asked.

"Yes, baby, I'm fine," I told her as Steve readjusted his hold on me to allow me to sit in his lap. I stretched out an arm and pulled her close. "Stephanie, honey, I'd like you to meet some people, okay?"

"Okay," she nodded, and I took Steve's hand and called Natasha over, who sat next to us. Bucky wrapped his right arm around my shoulder. "Everyone, this is my daughter, Stephanie Natalia Jamesina Barnes. Steph, this is your Uncle Steve. He's one of my best friends."

"Nu-unh," Stephanie replied with a laugh. "That's Captain America, Mommy. We learned all about him in school last week."

"Oh yeah? What'd they tell you about him?" I asked with a smile.

"That he's a hero. He saved one of his best friends from a monster, and he and his other best friend crashed a plane full of bombs into the Arctic and saved the world," she replied, explaining things in the simple manner of a ten-year-old, even though she was intelligent enough to lecture us for days on Steve's personal history. I shared glances with Bucky, who had tears in his eyes, and Steve, who had blushed upon hearing my daughter call him a hero.

Nodding my head at Natasha, I told Stephanie, "Steph, this is your Auntie Nat. She's also one of my best friends."

Stephanie's jaw dropped open. "Natasha Romanoff. The Black Widow. You're so _cool_!"

Nat grinned and I laughed. "Of course she is, that's why I named you after her."

My daughter's gaze then turned to Bucky and she froze. I noticed the change in her demeanor instantly, as did Nat and the boys. "Mommy…" she cried, her voice filled with fear.

I snatched her up and hauled her into my lap, wrapping my arms around her tightly. "What is it baby? What's wrong? You don't have to be afraid of Bucky."

Her expression went from bad to worse, from fear to horror in seconds. "Mommy… _noooo_ ," my daughter wept uncontrollably. I exchanged helpless glances with Bucky, Steve, Nat and Tony, who still watched us via the monitor. "Baby, _what is it_?" I pleaded with her. "This is Bucky Barnes, sweetheart, Captain America's best friend."

Stephanie looked up at me, her wet blue eyes wide. Beside us, I felt Bucky stiffen and I heard him gasp softly. " Yeye glaza…"

Turning my head, I gazed at him fondly. " Da, lyubov' moya. U nashey docheri yest' glaza."

"Mommy?" my daughter whispered.

"Yes, sweetheart?"

"Bucky's my daddy, isn't he?" she asked bluntly.

"Yes, baby, he's mine and Uncle Stevie's best friend." I could sense her unease. "What's wrong?"

Her voice trembled as she spoke, and because of what she'd shown me I knew what she was going to say before she said it. "He's the one the bad people talked about. The one they called The Asset. They said…" she had to stop speaking for a moment because she'd begun to cry again.

"What the hell?" Bucky demanded.

"In short…my alleged partner on that long-term SHIELD mission? He was a fucking HYDRA agent. I figured him out…and he arranged for social services to illegally remove Stephanie…but apparently the people she was given to were also fucking HYDRA," I snarled, and Tony confirmed this.

"Yep, in fact that entire office was nothing but HYDRA goons, according to our little songbird."

My daughter looked at me again as she wiped her eyes with her sleeve. "Mommy, I have to tell you and Daddy the rest of it."

"The rest of it?" Bucky muttered.

"Yeah. They said you were a good Soldier…but they were going to make me a better one. And then…" her breath hitched. "And then…they were going to make me kill you."

A few minutes later, we'd gotten Stephanie tucked into one of the beds and at my insistence, Bruce sedated her. She'd been through hell and needed the rest. Natasha stayed with her while the boys and I talked.

Bucky was pacing back and forth, his metal hand balled into a fist, his flesh one shoved into his hair. I knew what he was thinking because I was too. When Bruce walked out of the medbay, we both turned to him. "Banner, you're going to need to check her blood when we get to the Tower," Bucky stated. I nodded in agreement.

"Why?" Bruce asked, confusion written on his face. Even Steve looked surprised.

"Because…they had her long enough. It is highly likely, given what Stephanie reported, that they might have started experimenting on her. We…" my own voice broke at the thought of my daughter undergoing anything like what had been done to my husband. Bucky walked over and wrapped his arms around me. I leaned back against him, needing the comfort of his strength. "We need to know if they've given her a new version of the serum, or tried to start programming her…or anything else."

Bruce nodded in understanding then. "Okay, yeah, that makes sense."

"And what do we do while Bruce is doing that?" Steve asked me.

"What the hell do you think we do, Stevie? We make them pay. For all the harm they've caused our family, that's what we do," I replied adamantly.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Russian translations as follows:
> 
> [1] We're not the ones you really want.
> 
> [2] What?
> 
> [3] Sam's outside. Got something for you. Go now.
> 
> [4] Damn, you're good
> 
> [5] Good girl
> 
> [6] Her eyes…
> 
> [7] Yes, my love. Our daughter has your eyes.


End file.
